Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds.

Bruce Wimbush, 18, pleaded guilty in a mob attack on a driver who hit a child in an accident.

Story highlights

An 18-year-old pleads guilty in a mob attack on a Detroit driver

The driver had hit a child in an accident

Bruce Wimbush says he got "emotional" after seeing child hit, he then hit the driver

Wimbush pleads guilty to lesser charge in exchange for testifying against others in case

A Michigan teenager pleaded guilty Monday in the mob beating of a 54-year-old grandfather after he inadvertently struck a child with his truck in April, according to a news release from the Wayne County Prosecutor's office.

Bruce Wimbush, 18, pleaded guilty to assault with intent to do great bodily harm, according to the news release.

Wimbush admitted in court Monday that he punched the driver, Steven Utash, in the jaw and was among a "large group of people" that attacked the man in April. The teen told Judge James Callahan that after seeing Utash hit a child, he "got emotional" and his anger took over, according to CNN affiliate WDIV.

"I have a little brother and when I saw the kid, all I could see at the time was my little brother," Wimbush said, according to WDIV.

The charge was reduced by prosecutors from assault with intent to murder with the agreement that Wimbush will testify in future proceedings related to the assault, the release said.

Three other adult suspects are charged with attempted murder in the attack while a fourth, a juvenile, is charged with assault and ethnic intimidation. They are scheduled to appear in court this week, according to the prosecutor's office.

Wimbush will be sentenced on July 7 and faces up to 10 years in prison, according to the prosecutor's office.

Utash, the driver, was hospitalized in a coma after the attack. He returned home in May after spending more than six weeks in a hospital and rehabilitation center, according to a "Help Steven Utash" Facebook page post.

The boy struck by Utash's vehicle was treated for a leg injury at a local hospital and then was released home, according to the prosecutor's office.